This invention relates to an improved oil drain valve assembly. More particularly, the invention relates to an oil drain valve assembly having remote control operating means.
Internal combustion engines which are in commercial use are typically equipped with an oil drain plug mounted in the bottom of the engine. When the oil in the engine needs to be changed, the drain plug is removed and the oil drains by gravity out of the engine. Unfortunately, in the case of an automobile, removing the drain plug is rather burdensome to the individual without hydraulic lift means. Crawling under the automobile or having to drive the automobile up onto a ramp have their obvious disadvantages.
Several attempts have been made to construct oil drain valves which can be controlled by remote means and thus avoid the problems attendant with the conventional oil drain plug. Such attempts, however, have not found widespread acceptance for a variety of reasons, including reliability, ease of design and manufacture, and compactness. Examples of these previous attempts can be found described in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 3,477,459; 3,650,352; 3,677,369; 3,954,250; 4,086,981; and 4,319,664.
There has now been found a remotely controlled oil drain valve assembly usable with an internal combustion engine which is free of many of the drawbacks associated with known remote control drain valves. The present oil drain valve assembly is characterized in being relatively easy to manufacture due to its limited number of parts, yet is reliable. It can be installed merely by removing the conventional threaded drain plug and substituting the oil drain valve assembly of this invention.